How These Babies Made Their Mark In Pop Culture History

Whether or not you watched Sex and The City: The Movie, you’ve probably seen the now famous blue Manolo Blahnik satin pumps Carrie wears to marry her long-time love, Big. The proper title for the shoe is the Hangisi, but over the past few years, it has been appropriately dubbed the “Something Blue” pump, for its role as the shoe of choice to accompany Carrie Bradshaw’s wedding gown and embedding itself in pop culture history. While the Sex and the City movie introduced the Hangisi/ Something Blue pump to the masses, the phenomena wouldn’t be nearly as far-reaching as it’s become if this wasn’t a very special shoe.

Pop Culture Magic

The shoes were not just another fabulous item from Carrie Bradshaw’s wardrobe, they played a significant role in the movie. So significant they could have been listed in the closing credits. Originally, Carrie buys them to wear with a simple, secondhand ivory suit she picks up at a vintage shop. The suit is not a designer label or even a name brand, and is nicknamed “the dress by no one”. The only fancy part about her wedding outfit is an elegant pair of Manolo Blahnik pumps in cobalt blue satin, the vamp embellished with a square-ish vintage-looking crystal buckle.

From that moment, the shoes take on a life of their own, beautifully marking each stage of the story:

First, Carrie places them poignantly on a shelf, as if to plant a flag symbolizing the claim to ownership of the then empty apartment Big buys for the two of them.

Next, the shoes are forgotten on the shelf in the apartment, which is sold after Carrie and Big’s breakup. Carrie remembers she left them there and frantically hurries to the apartment before the sale closes at 6:00PM.

Then, Big and Carrie run into each other at the apartment, both of them heading back to get the shoes before 6:00PM. This of course, is where they reconcile–Manolo Blahnik saves the day!

Big “seals the deal” by proposing to Carrie and placing the shoe on her foot á la Cinderella.

And finally, Carrie wears them as they were originally intended–to wed the love of her life in a civil service, wearing the dress by “no one”.